Renters also becoming increasing victims of foreclosure

PHOENIX - Foreclosures are hitting homeowners hard but are also having an unexpected effect on renters.

3TV is hearing more stories about people renting homes which end up in foreclosure, leaving families out on the street. State lawmakers are working on a bill to help protect renters but for many Valley families it is already too late.

Christine Warner is packing up her life...again. She admits, " It's been a nightmare." She moved to the Valley last fall with her daughters to start a new life and a new job. She lost that job and she is now losing her home. "The home is foreclosed on," she explains.

But it is not Warner's fault. She has been paying her rent and has no idea why her landlord has not been paying the mortgage. Warner just found out the bank is seizing the home and she and her girls will be kicked out. She admits to 3TV, "Literally have not been to sleep in two days." Warner says shelters she checked into are full and is understandably desperate and frustrated.

She explains, "I have an education, I have a degree" As far as her next step, she admits, "I really don't know. I really don't know."

Warner now knows the home was already in foreclosure when she signed the lease last fall. Arizona state legislators want to change the law to force landlords to disclose any mortgage problems to their renters. A new bill also aims to give the innocent renters more time to move out.

Warner says landlord disclosure and more time would have helped her. She says, "I'm either going to be in my car or a hotel."